BASh is the first 4D component publicly available after the release of 4D v6.7.0 by 4D, Inc., and 4D SA. And, in keeping with the tradition of offering high quality and services, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., has made the BASh component available for free to the developer community.

"The BASh component can easily serve as an example for 4D component developers everywhere on how to create a well formed 4D component", said Steven G. Willis, President, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc. "It is completely self contained and initializes itself. Absolutely no code changes or additions are needed to begin using the component. And, the functionality it provides is exceedingly simple to take advantage of, yet still immensely powerful. We use it in all of our 4th Dimension development at DSTi."

BASh v1.5.3 adds two dozen new methods to the popular 4D component. All total, the BASh component now consists of 158 methods across 16 modules of code.

Developers Everywhere are Talking

"I have been using the DSS module for some time now. It's rock solid code. The ability to use the DSS module to implement a type of 'pointer to local variable', makes programming 4D more intuitive and flexible. Combine DSS with ObjectTools and you have a very powerful solution to handle all those AreaList Pro objects in your database. And now it's bundled with a bunch of other useful stuff. So why not do yourself a favour, install BASh. You'll thank yourself for it, I guarantee it."

"Even if you only use the variable management system (DSS), this component will allow you to structure your code as never before. This and the other modules provided in BASh will provide even experienced developers with features that they would have been using for years if only they had been able to invest their time in the coding effort. Most of us have not."

The BASh component consists of many different modules of methods which provide extensive utility services in 4th Dimension applications. The list of modules currently available in the BASh component is:

ARR - Array sizing, management, and manipulation methods;

* BLOB - BLOB management and manipulation methods;

CODEC - encoding and decoding support for common formats;

CONV - conversion methods to handle data and type conversions;

DSS - Dynamic Stack Space; reusable variable management system;

DTS - Date-Time Stamps; generation and manipulation methods;

# ENV - environmental information (program, OS, CPU, etc.);

# FILE - path and file name utilities;

NULL - Variable clearing and initialization methods;

NVP - named value pair utilities and management;

# RES - resource management and utility methods;

SEM - Semaphore management methods;

# STR - string manipulation, formatting, and filtering methods;

TIME - Time manipulation methods;

TYPE - Variable type comparison methods;

VAR - Variable utility methods.

* - new to the latest release of BASh
# - expanded within the latest release of BASh

The BASh component also provides a working example of a well formed 4D component. There is no configuration or initialization needed to start using the BASh component. No code needs to be added to your 4D project to begin using the methods available in BASh. And, there are no setting limitations (i.e. 'All Variables are Typed') to projects compiled with the BASh component. It is literally as simple as dropping the BASh component into your 4D project and start calling it immediately.

New Features in v1.5.3

Version 1.5.3 of the BASh component add two dozen new calls available. Particularly, the ENV and FILE modules have been expanded considerably. Fully detailed documentation for the new methods is available in the developer documentation that is included with the BASh component. The developer documentation currently consists of over 200 pages of detailed information about every module and method available in the BASh component.

Version 1.5.3 also includes a new Affix BASh document for placement in the 4DX folder. The Affix BASh document contains all of the data and resources necessary for the BASh component to operate seemlessly in all 4D projects.

All of the new methods within the BASh v1.5.3 release are readily upgradeable for current users of BASh. There are no changes required in your existing code to begin using the new version of BASh.

Pricing and Availability

The BASh component is officially released as peepware. For those unfamiliar with peepware, it is similar to postcardware except that Marshmallow Peeps (more information about Marshmallow Peeps available at http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/) are requested from those developers that find the BASh component to be useful in their 4th Dimension projects.

The BASh component can be downloaded by following the Downloads link on the Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., website, located at:

Based in Vero Beach, Florida, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., provides software development, consulting, hosting, and colocation services. Founded in 1997, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., develops and supports a wide variety of software development tools and services to aid in the creation of custom applications and web sites for the Macintosh and Windows platform. For more information, please visit our home page at http://www.deepskytech.com/.